Tsukumodo:Volume 2 Silence

If you had to choose between a silent place and a busy place, which would you prefer?

A silent place when you want to read a book or study?

A lively place when you want to hang out with friends or eat something?

Depending on your purpose, your preference may change.

But even if it suits your purpose, a place that is too silent will disquiet you and a place that is too lively will bother you.

Be it silence or liveliness, it's all a matter of degree.

That said, of the two, I happen to prefer silence a bit more - most likely because I am used to quiet places.

The point I am trying to make is:

The Tsukumodo Antique Shop is as dead silent as ever.

◆

It was comparable to the soft slumber of being encased in a womb.

While I was giving myself over to a silence that bundled me up in a blanket of cozy warmth, a bubble slowly rose beside me.

I touched it.

It burst as a "Re".

Another bubble came floating upwards.

I touched it.

It burst as a "Fa" this time.

One after another, the bubbles rose around me.

One, two, three—no, more. A hundred, two hundred, three hundred, more. More, more.

At last, the sounds started to burst out and play without my needing to touch the bubbles; they burst out and created sounds. And these countless sounds eventually grew into a melody.

This was the womb of a mother of sound.

And I was one of the few who were permitted to step into this realm.

My duty was to gather those sounds as they were born and bring them to the outside world.

In this place, nothing existed except for me and these sounds.

There were no other humans, nor any other noises.

It was only me and the newborn sounds.

"———"

There was an intrusion from outside.

It felt like being inside a water balloon being popped by a needle.

The consequence was destruction: everything scattered.

The slumber I had indulged in and the silence—everything—crumbled away.

The newborn sounds streamed away elsewhere. They seeped away through my fingers.

I was forcefully brought back to consciousness.

I was in the same room as always.

The sheets of music on the table before me were filled with notes.

When I was in the world of sounds, my hand would automatically write down the notes of the sounds I gathered.

That was how I composed. A method that only I could employ, requiring no instruments whatsoever.

But the sheet music stopped halfway. The notes were distorted and broken—because of the noise that had broken in. Because of the disruption, the sounds I had gathered had died aborning.

The room I was in was soundproofed from the ceiling to the floor. Not, however, to keep sounds from escaping. I lived in a deserted ghost town, so there weren't any inhabited houses near mine.

The purpose of my soundproofing was to keep any sound from getting in.

It was all for the sake of composing without interruption.

However, my sound insulation could only deaden sound, not erase it completely.

Just as in this case, outside noise could break into this room—the womb of sounds—and cause pollution.

As soon as that pollution scattered my visualization, it was all over. The sounds around me would fly away and leave my composition dead.

(I had been so close...)

Seized by anger, I threw open the door and headed upstairs to the living room on the ground floor

Upon my arrival, I found my helper, Mei, asleep with her upper body on the table. On the floor was a tea cup. I didn't know whether the sound I had heard just now was the banging of her head against the table or her knocking the tea cup to the floor, but the thought that such a trivial thing had just killed my sounds was just unbearable.

Normally, such soft noises wouldn't be heard in that soundproofed room, but my ears are so sensitive that they pick up even such tiny sounds. And that's why I would always caution Mei to avoid making any noise.

"Hey!" I roared.

Mei's eyes flicked open.

Upon recognizing me with her dozy eyes, she quickly sat up straight and asked,

"Have you already completed your work?"

"You ruined it."

Mei noticed the tea cup she had accidentally dropped on the floor along with its spilled contents and paled.

Probably realizing what she had done, she hung her head in shame.

"I'm in a bad mood. I'm going out for a while."

Leaving her to her own devices, I left the house.

My name is Eiji Kadokura. I'm 32 years old, and a music composer. I have composed a considerable number of pieces so far and pride myself on being fairly popular and well-known.

In terms of genres, I accepted assignments for soothing music as an example. My most famous composition is most likely a piece I had written for a certain renowned violinist, which had been classical, but became a million-seller thanks to the recent classical music boom.

Today, I had been working on a music piece for an assignment that was due in a week as well- right until I was disturbed by my helper.

Once a piece of music has been dispersed, it is forever lost to me.

While traces of it remain in my head, it feels like a cheap copy if I finish the song with those remnants.

It resembles the feeling when the toy bricks you piled up in play start to shake, and even though you manage to regain balance, your tower eventually falls apart a few bricks are added.

Or perhaps it's also similar to sewing a garment: your thread runs out and you have to substitute it for a new one—a knot will remain and make the garment look shabby.

Either way, a ruined piece of music cannot be mended.

I couldn't stand a patched-together song.

I had to start all over again.

Even though there was not much time left until the deadline.

I entered my car and drove to a café I frequented.

Located in a calm basement, it was a much-appreciated haven of tranquility for me. But on that day of all days, the café proved unable to soothe me.

A group of over ten tourists or something had gathered down there. But they weren't just there—they seemed to confuse the venue with a bar and made hellish amounts of noise.

Upon noticing me, the keeper of the cafe lowered his head apologetically.

I took it as an apology and an invitation to leave for today.

Suppressing the urge to give those rude customers a good dressing-down, I nodded to the keeper and left.

Because I had become all the more irritated, even the street noise I would usually tolerate annoyed me horribly.

Be it the engine noise of the cars and their piercing horns, the loud voices of strolling students and their vulgar laughs, the yells of salesmen who unsuccessfully tried to attract customers, or cheap music.

They all annoyed me.

Why was the world so full of noise and racket?

I wasn't at work, so I wasn't asking for perfect silence, but living amidst so much noise and racket was unendurable for me. I couldn't understand why other people didn't mind.

While struggling against the urge to roar at them to shut up, I backed off into a narrow side street.

After I got some distance from the main street, the noise became somewhat more bearable. While it hadn't faded out entirely, I could endure it from afar. I decided on walking along these back streets for the time being.

"Now if only there were a café somewhere, I'd be satisfied for the time being..."

The very moment I thought so, I spotted an small, olden-style shop before my eyes.

It was hard to tell from its exterior what kind of shop it was. Willing to stay a while if it turned out to be a café, I pushed open the door.

A bell announced the arrival of a customer.

Its ring was pleasant to the ear. Passed. Much to my regret, however, it was not a café. Various things were lined up on the shelves in a disorderly fashion. There were jars and plates and other ceramic ware, and dolls of Japanese and Western origin as well as a tinplate robot. There was even a camera. I assumed it was some kind of antique or second-hand shop.

Out of curiosity, I took a look around.

"Welcome," someone said to me.

Behind the counter sat a charming woman clad in black. She looked a little younger than me, but the languorous feel she gave off made her seem rather mature and mysterious.

"Are you looking for something specific?"

I was looking for someplace silent. The shop fit the bill perfectly, but saying that would be like telling her that I didn't intend to buy anything from the start.

"I was just wondering if I might find something curious."

I made up an answer and looked at the shelves as though I were very interested.

"But there is something you seek, is there not?" she said, as though she had read my heart. "Tell me. Perhaps you might obtain what you have longed for?"

"As I said, something curious..."

"You don't want 'something'. You want 'a thing'."

"Huh?"

"If you want 'something', you won't obtain anything in the end. It has to be a specific thing that you want."

Perhaps she was teasing me with some word play, or perhaps she had seen through my intention of not buying anything and wanted to chase me out. Apparently I had become irritable; this was enough to annoy me.

"If you really have what I want, I'd be more than willing to buy it."

"Yes, what is it?"

"Complete silence."

The woman gave me a slightly troubled glance. I was ashamed of acting so childish. I should have named some article she was likely to have or just leave.

"I am sorry. I'm afraid that's not here."

"Certainly. I'm sorry, t..."

"It is in our 'sister shop'!"

I doubted my ears—but got angry an instant after.

She was playing with me. "Not here"? Don't make me laugh.

"It can be mine if I go to that sister shop? Then please, by all means, tell me where it is. If I can really find complete silence there, that is."

"A Relic that can create a room of complete silence by warding off all sound—that is, the Mirror of Serenity."

"Relic? The Mirror of Serenity?"

"Mind you, by 'Relic' I don't mean antiques or objects of art. 'Relic' is what we call tools with special capabilities created by mighty ancients or magicians, and objects that have absorbed their owner's grudge or natural spiritual powers.

Things like a stone that brings ill luck, a cursed voodoo doll or a triple mirror that shows how you are going to die. I believe you've heard of many of them, and the Mirror of Serenity belongs to that category. But it's not here at the moment!"

I had no idea what she was talking about. While I had indeed heard of a superstition claiming that objects may gain a soul after a long time, hearing about it just then rubbed me the wrong way.

"Don't make a fool of me. Yes, I did not enter this shop because I wanted to buy something. But you have no right to mock at me because of that. 'Relic', you say? 'Mirror of Serenity'? Stop ridiculing me by making up such mysterious names!"

"Oh, you don't believe me?"

"Of course I don't. Complete silence does not exist. I have perfect soundproofing in my house, but I can still hear sounds from the outside."

"Because it's soundproofing. The Mirror of Serenity works differently. It wards off sound."

"Don't get so carried away..."

"This place is similar!"

It was then that I finally noticed.

There was not a sound in this shop.

Indeed, a conversation was taking place between me and that woman. So there was sound. However, there was no noise from the outside. I could not hear the distant noise that had tormented me until I'd entered the shop, not the slightest bit.

I perked up my ears and focused them outside.

However, I did not hear anything.

No matter what kind of soundproofing this shop had, there was no way it could block out every sound from my ears.

As long as we didn't speak, there was the complete silence I had been longing for.

"...What's the meaning of this?"

"It means that this place is special as well. But it doesn't create complete silence—the outside noise merely doesn't reach this place as a side effect. However, the Mirror of Serenity will create complete silence for you."

"You said it's in your sister shop, right?"

My heart was beating rapidly. Perhaps, the loudest noise in this world right now was my own heart beat.

"Will I get my hands on the Mirror or Serenity if I go there?"

"I cannot say for certain. Ask the owner of the shop. But I'm sure you will be able to obtain it if you wish. Relics naturally find their way to an appropriate owner."

After receiving a copy of the address and opening times of that sister shop, I left.

"———"

In that moment, noise returned.

All the sounds that had vanished so far returned the instant I left the shop.

It was as if I had been dreaming.

Suddenly, my cell phone rang. It was from Mei, my helper. She informed me that a client that requested a composition had stopped by the house.

We had scheduled a meeting for today. It had completely slipped my mind.

I replied that I'd be back within an hour and headed to the parking lot.

Before hanging up, she said something that disconcerted me.

She told me to keep my cell phone turned on.

Apparently, she had tried several times to reach me without success. However, I had at no point turned off my phone. That shop hadn't been underground, either, so I should have been within communication range.

A cold shiver ran down my spine and I thought about looking back at the shop, but my body wouldn't let me. I quickly left the area.

When I arrived at home, Mei asked me where I had been.

I found myself unable to answer her. I did remember the shop, but for some reason I couldn't remember where it was and what kind of person the shop assistant had been.

Only the paper with the address and store hours in my hands assured me that it had not been a dream.

◆

Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

"Shut up already!!"

A roar from the owner of this shop, Towako Setsutsu, resounded through the building, but was drowned out by an even mightier noise from the outside, causing the roar to lose most of its impact.

Usually, her appearance was characterized by clear-cut eyebrows, self-confident eyes, as well as lustrous black hair hanging straight down to her waist. Today, however, her brows were wrinkled and her eyes were narrowed in a displeased fashion. Her hair had become a mess because she had been constantly mussing it up.

"Yelling at them won't get you anywhere!" I—Tokiya Kurusu—replied while resting on the counter.

Towako-san made a theatrical gesture of putting her hand behind her ear and asked, "What did you say?"

I brought my face close to her ears and shouted, "Yelling at them won't get you anywhere!"

"Sweet Jesus! Don't shout like that!"

"You can't hear me otherwise, can you!?"

"Be quiet, the both of you - I can't concentrate on my book," my co-worker Saki Maino, complained indifferently.

While she had pale hair that reached about to the middle of her back and shone silver in the light, as well as clear white skin, she was clad entirely in black, wearing a black shirt with frills, a long black skirt and black boots.

She was about a head shorter than the average male student (such as myself), and so slender that an embrace seemed like it could break her. She was sixteen and thus a year younger than I. She did look her age, but because of her demeanor, she seemed a little more mature. A brilliant smile like a blooming flower, as the meaning of her name would suggest, positively failed to adorn her face; instead, she was perfectly expressionless as if to deny the saying "nomen est omen". Even she was showing some irritation on her face today.

(But Saki, don't take it out on us!)

The noise from a construction site nearby was to blame for her irritation, that ruckus having plagued our ears for some time.

We had been informed beforehand that a building would be under repair for a week starting today, but we hadn't expected the repairs to turn out to be so deafening.

That was quite the opposite of the silence that had been present up until yesterday, when all we heard were gusts of wind and tumbleweeds.

This shop, the Tsukumodo Antique Shop (FAKE), handled, as the name suggests, fake Relics.

Not antiques or objects of art, but tools with special abilities created by mighty ancients or magicians, or objects that have absorbed their owner's grudge or natural spiritual powers.

In tales and legends, there are often tools that contain special powers.

For instance, a stone that brings good luck, a doll whose hair grows night after night, a mirror that shows your future appearance, a sword that brings ruin to anyone who draws it.

Everybody has most likely heard of their existence.

However, people consider them mere fantasies because they have not seen them, they do not notice them even if they are right before their eyes, and even if something mysterious were to occur, people dismiss them as some sort of coincidence.

Some people feel unconcerned, while others are certain that such things do not exist.

However, Relics are closer to us than we may think.

I myself had recently gotten in contact with a few—namely a pendulum that called forth coincidences, a statue that stimulated one's life force, a notebook that made one remember everything written in it, and a wallet that made me lose all my earnings unless I spent them on the same day.

However, Relics like these were not for sale in the shop. As was mentioned above, we only dealt with fakes. The articles on the shelves were fakes the owner of this shop had purchased, believing that they were real.

Of course, the customers that pay us visits have no idea what Relics are, and thus only sense a waste of time when facing the uncommon pendants, the uncanny dolls, the unmoving clocks and the un-special stones we offer, and then leave while regretting the mistake of dropping by in the first place.

Well, if they enter at all that is. It wasn't uncommon not to see a single customer over the course of an entire day.

"Wouldn't we rather close the shop for a week?" I suggested.

"But that would put a stop to our sales."

"We wouldn't get any customers anyway."

"What?"

"We wouldn't get any customers anyway!"

"Yeah, no one would care anyway!"

"You don't deny it!?"

"Now won't you keep quiet already? I can't concentrate on my book."

(Now don't you get that it's not our fault? And didn't we go through this already?)

Apparently, even Saki was annoyed about the noise, although her annoyance barely showed on her face.

"Man, now my head's starting to hurt. Hell, can't we do something about it for crying out loud? Towako-san, is there no Relic that can switch off that noise?"

"Come on, don't ask for the... possible?"

"It's possible?"

With a reflective face, Towako-san walked out of the room, whereas Saki put aside her book and came up to me.

"That's it!"

With these words, Towako-san returned from the storeroom with a mirror in her hands. The looking glass was covered with a purple cloth. The wooden frame surrounding it was as shiny as lacquer and had a stand.

"That's a Relic that wipes out noise?"

"Well, take a look."

She pulled away the cloth.

Suddenly, the noise vanished.

The heavy noise from the building site vanished.

It hadn't become unhearable. More like, it had vanished. And not only the noise. All sounds—like the people outside, the traffic, the television in the living room, and so on—had vanished.

"What's going on?"

What's going on? I tried to ask. But my voice remained inaudible.

I tried once again to give voice to my puzzlement, but failed again. Not only was Towako-san unable to hear me—I couldn't even hear myself speaking. No, that's not exactly it. Saying that there was no voice in the first place really gets to the heart of it.

Towako-san realized it as well and yelled something at me, which—of course—I couldn't hear.

Instead, I tried to express myself with my mouth movements.

By provocatively putting her hand behind her ear, Towako-san indicated to me that she couldn't hear anything.

This time I tried to tell her to cover the mirror again, but because of the change of my mouth movements, she got caught up in confusion and wrinkled her brow.

I pointed repeatedly at the mirror and formed with my lips the words, "Cover it!"

With a—possibly—loud angry voice, she put the cloth on the mirror.

Instantly, the lost sounds returned.

The noise from the building suite, the traffic noise from afar, the approaching steps of Towako-san, and...

"For the love of God, why don't you get it? I can't hear you!"

...the sound of a fist.

In truth, I wanted to defend myself by telling her that I couldn't hear her either, but the pain that was whirling around my head kept me from saying anything for a few moments.

"...That thing really shuts out any sound, huh?"

"That's what I've been telling you. Any sound vanishes from the region it reflects. The sounds from outside are completely deflected, and no sound can be produced within the reflected area. In short, it creates a complete silence."

"But in such an environment, you can't do anything!"

I didn't think that it would be so hard to make oneself understood without a voice.

"Just do the communication via pen and paper."

"Hah... But somehow it was so silent that it bothered me more than when it was noisy."

The noise of the building site had settled down to a level where it became possible to talk normally, which made the silence a few moments ago seem much worse.

"Besides, we can't attend to our customers like that!"

"We wouldn't get any customers anyway, right?"

"You two..."

"Are you still holding that against me?"

"Why, no? I'm used to it."

"You two..."

"Well, I do think that there won't be any."

"Can't you show at least some consideration?"

"You two..."

"Didn't you admit it yourself?"

"But you mustn't. Even if I do admit myself."

Suddenly, our heads were grabbed from behind and forcefully turned toward the entrance.

"We have customers."

In the direction of her words stood a man and a woman.

"It's still 'no'."

"Can't we come to an arrangement?"

"No."

"You can have as much as you want."

"I refuse no matter how much you offer."

The man and Towako-san had been repeating a conversation like that for some time. The approximately thirty-year-old customer, who was wearing an expensive suit and had possibly witnessed what had just happened, seemed to have a very vivid interest in the mirror. At first he had stood stone-still at the entry, but the moment he had gotten a grip on himself, he started pressing Towako-san to sell the mirror to him.

Towako-san in turn had kept refusing. Her will seemed to be firm, as she had just told him she wouldn't agree no matter how much money she might get.

As a matter of fact, to date, Towako-san had never sold a Relic to anyone. We only sold fakes and not Relics themselves. It was not her wish that people should obtain Relics.

"Why does he want that so badly, anyway?"

It was a remarkable sum he had offered. He was obviously wealthy.

"That man..." Saki muttered as she went to the living room.

She returned with the book she had been reading in her hands.

"As I thought."

There was a photograph of the man in the book. The accompanying profile said that his name was Eiji Kadokura and that he was a music composer.

(I see. It makes sense that he'd want a silent environment if he's a composer.)

"But why do you have such a book anyway?"

"I think that commerce and composition have a lot in common."

"Indeed, they sound similar."

"I'm being serious!"

"You meant something else?"

"Providing the music someone desires and providing the goods someone desires is very similar, isn't it?"

Indeed, Saki isn't one to tell jokes. Moreover, Saki is always earnest about her work and spares neither trouble nor expense to learn how to improve her customer service.

Of course, it was a taboo to disagree with her view and tell her that "Composing made easy!" had nothing to do with customer service, as always. And of course, I didn't agree with her, either.

"Anyway, I'm not selling it to you. And I have no business with you," Towako-san said point-blank and took the mirror with her to the living area.

"Please wait!"

"I am afraid I must ask you not to proceed as the shop stops here."

The shop was at the same time also the residence of Towako-san and her freeloading housemate Saki. Because the customer was about to intrude upon their private space, I had no choice but to block his way.

"There's nothing to discuss with a part-timer."

I couldn't help slightly taking offense at his attitude.

"There's nothing to discuss with you, either! Please leave if you don't intend to buy anything."

"That's what I'm here for."

"Please leave if you don't intend to buy an article. Just because this is a shop, we aren't obliged to sell things that aren't for sale to you."

Kadokura-san opened his mouth to voice some more complaints when suddenly the ringing of his cell phone resounded through the shop. He grudgingly took his phone out and flicked his tongue after reading the display.

"...a business related call. Looks like I have no choice."

"We don't hope that you will visit our store again!"

"I will!"

"Please don't."

The bothersome customer squared his shoulders and left the store.

"He's gone for now!" I shouted toward the living room where Towako-san was hiding.

Still wearing a displeased mien, she muttered, "Okay."

"Why didn't you just sell it to him? For such a pretty penny..." I asked and was glared at.

At the risk of repeating myself: Towako-san was against giving away Relics. Partly because of her collecting passion, but mostly because she knew many who had ruined themselves with Relics.

Should I be proud of the fact that I seem to have her trust, having received a Relic from her?

"Excuse me..." a woman said as Saki led her to us.

It was Kadokura-san's companion.

"Let me apologize for Kadokura's rudeness."

I wondered if she was his manager or something. Age-wise, she didn't look that different from me, but her air was that of a genuine business woman.

"Please call this number should you change your mind."

She held out a business card with the name "Eiji Kadokura" and his contact information.

Towako-san, however, showed no signs of taking the card. Losing to her helpless gaze, I accepted the card instead. And was glared at even harder.

Apparently, Towako-san was dissatisfied with me. She should have told me so before I accepted.

"It's been a pleasure," she said with a bow and left the shop.

"Now throw that card away."

"But that would be kinda..." I muttered as I prepared to turn around and cast a glance in the direction in which she had just left.

It was then that a painful noise rang inside my head——

It was a place I had never seen before.

I was in a room.

My field of vision encompassed a wall—and a shut door.

Scuffed with countless longish lines, the door made a bizarre impression.

My vision moved downward, bringing the lower part of the scene into focus.

A woman had collapsed on the floor.

Wearing a dress with frills and curling herself up, she didn't move a muscle . It was—

"What's wrong?"

Towako-san's voice brought me back. She looked at me, wondering.

"Did you have a vision?" Saki hit the nail on the head, having guessed from my outward state.

The scene I had witnessed after that painful noise was an image of the future, reavealed to me by my Relic.

My right eye is artificial. It has been replaced by a Relic named "Vision" that I received from Towako-san.

"Vision" sometimes shows me events from the immediate future.

When it happens, a pain runs through my head, much like static TV noise, followed by a cut-scene of the future.

However, "Vision" won't show me the entire future: I can't foresee the winning number of a lottery, or the winner of a sports match. I can't even predict the weather, nor can I choose to see a particular future event.

But there is one type of future that "Vision" shows me without fail.

That is, the potential moment of death for myself or someone related to me.

What I had just seen was the impending death of a certain person.

"That woman... is going to die."

◆

"Shit!"

I crumpled up a blank sheet of music and threw it at the wall, just to lean back powerlessly immediately afterwards. Unable to hold my weight, the chair I was sitting in fell over and left me staring at the ceiling.

It wasn't one of Mei's mistakes that had brought me back from my creative reverie today. I was simply having trouble concentrating.

My concentration had been better in the morning, and it was a shame that it hadn't lasted. Because of... No, that doesn't matter. When I'm in the zone, I wouldn't lose concentration because of something that trivial.

I was in a slump. Despite the imminent deadline, I didn't even have an image. When was I last in such a terrible slump?

(...Right, the time when I had just left home.)

Back then I was living in a tumbledown apartment that was dozens of years old. Because I wanted to avoid noise of all forms, I had chosen a remote place far away from the city. I hadn't been as nervous back then, but under the stress generated by the anxiousness of living on my own and the change of environment, I had found myself completely unable to write a single piece of music.

(How did I manage to overcome the slump back then...?)

I didn't remember. The slump had been over before I knew it. Well, most likely, I hadn't even considered it a slump at the time.

(But that's right. This isn't a slump, either.

I'm just having some trouble concentrating.

If I manage to concentrate, I'll be able to write again.)

I calmed myself down by closing my eyes and taking deep breaths.

(Picture it. Picture the world of sound...)

—Clank—

I heard the very soft sound of something falling to the ground upstairs.

My image vanished and my concentration disintegrated into thin air.

(Again...? Yet again...?)

"SHIT!"

(Why do I have to hear it? Why can't I just ignore that sound...)

A few moments later, a knocking at the door invaded the room with its sound and vibration. I paid it no heed, but the knocking didn't stop. Hadn't I told Mei not to knock more than five times...?

"Silence!"

I thrust open the door. With a short shriek, Mei fell on her bottom. However, I didn't feel any guilt.

"What is it?"

"Ah, yes. I have a work related call on the line for you."

"Tell them I'll call back later."

"But... it seems to be rather urgent..."

"I said later!"

I deliberately slammed the door shut. Even that sound resounded in my ears.

I was craving complete silence.

I was sure I could write music if I possessed it.

The "Mirror of Serenity" crossed my mind.

◆

"Welcome!"

While absorbed in admiring the almost palatial residence before our eyes, we were greeted by the woman who had accompanied the composer Eiji Kadokura.

Her name was Mei Oohashi and she took care of the composer. As proof—or perhaps not—she was dressed as a maid. In contrast to the business womanish aura she had given off in the shop, she was standing out a little now.

Under her guidance, Saki, Towako-san and I had travelled to the residence-cum-workplace of Eiji Kadokura.

His house was located in a suburb far away from the center of the city. The suburb was a district that had become a ghost town because its development had faltered. Even though there were lots of apartment buildings, there were no shops or people at the train station. As his residence was a fair distance from the station, we had to take one of the rare taxis to get there. It turned out to be quite a wearying journey. In all honesty, I wouldn't have expected a famous music composer to live in such a place.

I suspected he had deliberately chosen this location because he wanted to escape the noise of the city.

"This way, please."

Guided by Mei, we walked through a garden of dimensions that would have been unimaginable in the city, passed through a pointlessly large entrance and finally arrived at a living room, but only after traveling down a lengthy corridor. Mei told us to make ourselves comfortable on the sofas and disappeared into the kitchen to prepare some tea.

The moment she was gone, however, Kadokura-san appeared.

"Hello and welcome. I've been waiting for you!"

He welcomed us with open arms, though, truth be told, we clearly were not the true target of his eagerness.

"Have you brought it with you?"

With a scowl on her face, Towako-san showed him the cloth-wrapped mirror in her bag.

A contented smile appeared on his face.

The reason we had come here was not to leave the Mirror of Serenity with him.

Rather, it was to prevent the future that "Vision" had shown me—in other words, Mei-san's death.

Saki had stopped me from going to Mei-san and directly instructing her to watch out because she was going to die. It was a bad idea indeed to thoughtlessly inform her when we had no idea what would trigger her death. Therefore, we decided that ur best option would be to approach and watch over her.

So in order to get closer to Mei-san, we submitted the following proposal to Kadokura-san:

While we would not sell the mirror, we would be willing to lend it to him for a few days - but only if the mirror remained in our presence at all times.

Kadokura-san had agreed to these conditions. He probably thought that we wanted to stay at a famous composer's residence in return for lending the mirror to him.

However, we had no interest in any of that. We had to find and eliminate the cause of Mei-san's death during the lending period.

In truth, Towako-san was against this operation—because our actions might themselves become the cause of Mei-san's death. It was, however, just as plausible that her death would occur because of our inaction. If so, we couldn't simply sit back and take a "see what happens" approach.

Fortunately, I had a holiday on Friday because it happened to be my school's anniversary, giving us a total of three days time. Because "Vision" is unable to see very far into the future, I was sure to find some hints to ward off Mei-san's demise.

"Thank you for waiting," Mei-san said as she returned with a tray of tea. The rich aroma of black tea permeated the room.

Instead of widening her eyes or raising her voice, Saki allowed her eyebrows to move a wee bit and her gaze became fixed on the tea set, once the wonderful smell tickled her nose. She was as expressionless as ever, but I could tell that she was extremely surprised. Had Mei-san brought us an extra-expensive kind of tea?

Without noticing Saki's astonishment, Mei-san placed a teapot on the table, followed by a tea cup in front of each of us. The tea set was a top-class brand that even I had heard of.

Just as I thought that replacing a single cup would cost a fortune, Mei-san dropped a cup on the table.

With a clank, the handle of the cup broke off.

There was an awkward silence.

"Oh my!" Mei-san exclaimed, "E-Excuse me! Excuse me! I'll bring a new teacup right away!"

She picked up the teacup and the broken handle and smacked Kadokura-san's head—no, accidentally hit his head—with the tray while turning around.

"Ughn..."

"Gyaa! Excuse me, excuse me!"

"J-Just go and bring a new one already," Kadokura-san ordered calmly withoutgetting worked at all by Mei-san's panic. He had obviously become accustomed to her behavior. "Let me apologize for her, she's a little... clumsy..."

"Gyaa!"

Mei-san's scream emnated from the kitchen, followed by the sound of something falling on the floor. Well... at least, the rumbling didn't last.

"I'm sorry about the fuss."

...Perhaps one of the reasons that Kadokura-san was after the silence-imposing Mirror of Serenity was Mei-san herself.

"S-Sorry for the wait!"

She returned with a new teacup.

At the very moment that I had a premonition, she ended up banging her knee against the table while trying to set down the teacup, due to her excess momentum. The jolt caused the teapot to tilt, but just when I was sure that it would fall over, Saki took hold of it. I had never seen her move that quickly. Perhaps, Saki's dexterity increases in proportion to the price of the black tea at stake.

"E-Excuse me, excuse me."

Mei-san kept bowing her head and gratefully grabbed the hand Saki was holding the teapot in.

"Stop that and get us a wash cloth."

Upon receiving the order to get a wash cloth for the bit of tea that had been spilled, she hurried back to the kitchen.

Even without taking her maid outfit into account at all, her "professional business woman" aura had gone up in smoke for good.

"Again, let me apologize for her, she just can't sit still." Kadokura-san lowered his head in her place and looked at Saki with a wry smile. "I wish she was as composed as you."

I glanced at Saki, who was sitting next to me.

"Have you burned yourself?"

"It's no big deal," she said dismissively, but she was rubbing her hands under the table.

As there was still some time left until dinner, I decided to take a walk through the Kadokura residence by myself - not simply to look around, of course, but for investigative purposes.

The door I had seen in my vision of Mei-san's death was very peculiar, marked as it was with that strange pattern of lines.

I thought that by locating that door, I could make sure Mei-san wouldn't get anywhere near it, or else I would remove all dangerous objects near it- and thus save her from dying.

The ground floor of the Kadokura residence held a large living room, a kitchen and so on, whereas the bedrooms for Kadokura-san, Mei-san, and guests were upstairs.

Furthermore, there was also an underground room fully equipped with soundproofing that served as Kadokura-san's studio. According to him, he would always use the underground room for composing.

In fact, I was about to investigate that very room.

I had already thoroughly explored the ground floor and upstairs rooms, but there was no trace of the door that "Vision" had shown me. Only the basement was left.

The stairway leading to the basement was longer than I had expected and wound back and forth, which showed me just how deep underground the room was. Most likely, Kadokura-san wanted to get as far away from external noises as possible. I couldn't hear my own footsteps because even the stairway itself had been carpeted.

The door to the workroom appeared before me.

However—

"...Off the mark, huh."

At first glance, it had looked like the door in my vision - the shapes were certainly similar. However, there were no lines on the door, so it was not the door "Vision" had shown me. Yet, this was the only underground door.

"Perhaps it's not even in this house?"

In that case, we would be forced to keep an eye on Mei-san herself. As far as I knew, Saki was with her at the moment and helping with the chores.

I decided to watch over Mei-san as well, and turned around towards the stairway.

"Whoa!"

"Kyaa!"

Mei-san was standing right there. I screamed in surprise, in response to my scream, Mei-san lost her balance and fell down the stairs.

I reflexively supported her, but because I hadn't been prepared, I was dragged along with her.

"A-Are you all right? Excuse me, excuse me!"

"N-No, it's me who surprised you..."

While on top of me, Mei-san apologized yet again. I wondered - how many times had I already seen her like this?

"What are you doing in the dark?"

Saki looked down at me from above with a cold expression—well, the same expression as always.

"N-Nothing! You've been watching, so you know that, right?"

"That's not what I mean. I meant to ask what you've been doing down here alone, but as I see that you are making excuses, I suppose you did that intentionally?"

""E-Excuse me, Maino-san. I didn't mean to cling to your boyfriend! It was by accident, so please don't get angry with him!"

After falling silent for a while, Saki denied it without changing her expression with a "no, he's not."

Mei-san turned around to face me.

"Eh? He's not? I was sure he was because you became angry."

"Nope. We are not in a relationship, nor is she angry. She's always like that."

"Really?"

Unconvinced, Mei-san stared at Saki's face. It was no surprise that Mei-san couldn't see through Saki's poker face.

"Yes, as Tokiya said: I'm expressionless, emotionless and blunt. So please don't mind it," Saki said bluntly.

But... is it just me or did she somehow seem a little angry? I had thought that I'd learned to read the feelings behind her poker face, but apparently, that wasn't the case.

"Anyway, we'd better carry it in."

"What's with that?"

"Ah, this is the sparkling water Eiji-sama likes to drink while working. We were going to carry in supplies," Mei-san explained while pointing at the small cardboard boxes that she and Saki were holding.

However, that was not what I was asking.

"Your outfit."

"...Mei-san made me wear this."

In a rare turn of events, Saki, who loved black clothes more than anything, wore a pure-white apron like a maid. Most likely, she had been talked into wearing this outfit when she offered to help Mei-san. The fact that she was still wearing her black dress underneath was probably her version of a compromise.

"You look adorable in it, Saki-san! Now, this way," urged Mei-san as she opened the door and beckoned Saki over.

Saki climbed down the stairs and trod on my feet as she walked past.

"Ouch!"

"Oh? I'm sorry," she said indifferently and entered the room.

She was angry after all! Mei-san was right. Although I had no idea what had made her upset.

For the sake of continuing the surveillance of Mei-san, I followed her into the room.

The room measured several square meters. While I didn't see any instruments, piles of sheets of music were scattered about on the table and the floor. It really felt like the workroom of someone in the music business. There was also a laptop, so perhaps Kadokura-san was using it as an alternative to real instruments when composing.

"Saki-san, please put it in there," ordered Mei-san while pointing at a small fridge in a corner.

Mei-san picked up the scattered sheets and put them in order, after which she started to collect the partially finished bottles and empty the trash. The incident with the tea had given me pause, but she was working rather efficiently this time.

Leaving them to their respective jobs of tidying up and replenishing the stock of sparkling water, I closed the door. The room literally felt as though it had become isolated from the outside world.

While I could hear the two girls working, the sounds from outside were shut out. Well, not only was there nobody there, but we were also underground, so there was no noise anyway, but that was the impression I got. Probably because of the sound-proofing.

I thought that Kadokura-san would hardly need the Mirror of Serenity with a room like this.

"Are you finished tidying up?"

The door was opened again and Kadokura-san came in.

In his hands was the Mirror of Serenity. It looked like he had taken it from Towako-san and wanted to try it out as soon as possible.

"Almost."

"It doesn't have to be perfect," he said absent-mindedly, and looked around in the room. Apparently, he was pondering where to put the mirror.

"I'm fascinated! Isn't the soundproofing of this room perfect?" I asked.

Kadokura-san answered with a wry smile, "Indeed, I have spent a lot of money on this equipment. But it's not perfect. I can hear noise even when I close the door."

"Really?"

I had no idea how well soundproofing worked, but I figured it would take one hell of a noise to reach the room down here.

"Yeah. For example when Mei breaks a teacup upstairs," he said, which discouraged Mei-san and caused her to apologize yet again.

"You can hear something like that? Does that mean that there a crack in the soundproofing?"

"That's what I told the manufacturers at first, too. But it seems like normal people don't hear certain things even though I do. And I'm not just imagining things!"

"As a matter of fact, once when Eiji-sama was in this room with the manufacturers, he told them that he had heard me break a teacup. Apparently, no one else had heard anything, but when they went to the living room to check..."

"Mei had knocked a teacup off the table, as I had said. The manufacturers were at their wit's end."

(So he has special ears?)

"It's not that I hear everything, but for some reason I don't miss any of her slip-ups."

"Nasty ears."

"Did you say something, Mei?"

"No, never mind."

To be honest, I was more concerned with their relationship than with the story I had just heard.

At first, I had thought they were in a purely business relationship of employer and assistant, but they interacted far too casually. In addition he neither fired her despite her numerous mistakes, nor did he really get angry about her clumsiness.

"Well then, we won't disturb you any longer. Good luck with work. Let's go, Kurusu-san, Maino-san."

Upon bowing to Kadokura-san, she left the room holding a garbage bag. We followed her, and Kadokura-san started composing.

The heavy door closed with a whomp and separated him from us.

On the way back to the ground floor, Saki posed a question to Mei-san,

"How did you get to know Kadokura-san?"

"Eh?"

"Because somehow you don't seem like employer and assistant."

Apparently, Saki had felt the same way as I.

"I used to be an employee at the Kadokura's."

"An employee?"

"Eiji-sama comes from a long line of doctors and his family owns a hospital. I happened to be employed at their mansion. That's where I met Eiji-sama."

"Coming from that background, it's quite surprising that he chose to become a composer."

"Yes, it's as you say. His father strictly disapproved of it, which was only natural as Eiji-sama had already enrolled at a medical university when he made that decision. In the end, he moved out with a firm and unbent will, and followed the path of a composer."

"Does that mean that you followed him?"

"Yes. As you can see, I am clumsy and always making mistakes. I don't know how many times I was about to get dismissed, but every time, Eiji-sama came to my rescue. There's no way I could have worked at the mansion without his assistance."

I was a bit surprised. No, I was very surprised. Because of his forceful attempts to get his hands on the Mirror of Serenity, my impression of Kadokura-san wasn't exactly good. I thought that like most successful people, he was conceited, but apparently I had been wrong.

"He tends to be misunderstood because of his stubborn nature, but he's actually a very kind person!" Mei-san added, perhaps because she had guessed my thoughts. "Lately, he has been in a slump and having trouble composing, but I'm sure he only needs a push to get past it, since he did just fine without any soundproofing in the past. I'm positive that the mirror will become that push. Thank you so much for lending it to him."

Mei-san stopped and bowed down deeply.

"I will prepare dinner now. Please make yourself comfortable in the living room."

While gazing after Mei-san, I said to Saki,

"I really want to save her."

"That's what we're here for, right?" she replied and slapped me on the back.

◆

I was floating in an all-encompassing, cozy silence.

Even though it was the same thing, it was clearly different.

This time, I had slid into the world of sound within the complete silence of the Mirror of Serenity.

That was all that had changed, yet everything looked completely different to me.

As though a slightly unbalanced sphere had become perfectly round.

As though a slightly rough surface had gotten polished and smooth.

As though a cup of slightly polluted water had become clean and pure.

In other words, it had become perfect.

It was the perfection I had been longing for.

(What kind of sounds will be born here?

I shall try out immediately. I need a pen and a sheet...)

"Uwa!!"

When I opened my eyes, someone crossed the corner of my vision and caused me to fall from the chair out of surprise.

It was Setsutsu-san. I had not at all noticed her coming in.

She approached the mirror and quietly turned it over.

At once, the world around me underwent a sudden change. All sound suddenly returned as if a switch had been flipped,

"Am I interrupting?"

"No, I haven't started composing yet."

"Quite the enthusiast, aren't you? You even forgot to lock the door."

As it seemed, I had been so impatient that I had forgotten to lock the door. But I had not noticed her intruding; I was amazed at the discovery that it was so hard to notice someone without sound, and felt high respect for the mirror and its power.

So far, no soundproofing had succeeded in completely shutting out any sound.

Of course I had always heard it when Mei knocked, and I had even heard what she was doing upstairs. The manufacturers were left in disbelief, but as a matter of fact, my ears could hear these sounds.

My ears are superior to others', and no matter who I would ask, no one was able to provide me with an establishment that would give my ears complete silence.

I had almost given up. Had I not learned about that mirror by chance, I would have. I could only think of this as a gift from above.

"What's your first impression of the mirror?" she asked while tracing the border of the face-down mirror with her finger and without looking at me.

"It is fantastic! I can't believe it's possible to shut out useless noise to that extent. If I have this, I can smoothly delve into my world of sound."

"You didn't notice that I entered the room, right?"

"Yes, I heard not a..."

"You didn't even sense my presence, right?"

"Uh? Yes, indeed."

"Don't you think it's unnatural not to notice when someone enters the room?"

"That just proves how well I could concentrate on my work."

"You're in the wrong: it's all because of the Mirror of Serenity. It doesn't only shut out the sound from outside, you know? It shuts out the entire outside world, so to speak."

"?"

"Not only does it disrupt sound, but also all similar things like the presence of others or electric waves. That's why you don't notice even when someone's right by your side. Not only do you overhear any ever-so loud voice, but you also don't receive any calls on your cell. Having said that, it's not like it splits off the room itself, so it's still possible to enter from outside."

"I see. In other words, if I had locked the door and you hadn't been able to enter, I may have pulled an all-nighter without even noticing?"

Setsutsu-san smirked at my joke, but it wasn't at all a favorable smile.

"I do hope it wouldn't get graver than that."

"Eh?"

"Do yourself a favor and refrain from using it too often. I am loaning it to you of necessity, but that's all. This item is beyond your ability."

With these words, she left the room.

◆

The next morning.

In the end, we had come away empty-handed on the first day and badly needed to find a clue today.

When I left the room I had borrowed, I was awaited by hell of a noise.

The sound had come from the kitchen, where, for some reason, Mei-san was lying prone on the floor. Not that the reason was actually hard to figure out.

Neither Kadokura-san nor Saki seemed to really mind her, and either kept sitting in the living room or, in Saki's case, picked up the spoons and forks Mei-san had dropped. After a few winks, Mei-san suddenly stood up and apologized repeatedly with a pale face.

"Good morning."

"Ah, morning," said Kadokura-san as he raised his face from the newspaper he was reading. He had bloodshot eyes.

"Did you not sleep well?"

"I was absorbed in work, you know. Before I knew it, it was morning. I haven't been that concentrated in ages! It's all thanks to that mirror. I couldn't even hear any of Mei's slips."

I couldn't deny myself a wry smile at the fact that the possibility that Mei-san had not made any mistakes was out of question for him.

"Not to sound rude, but why did you employ her?" I asked in a volume Mei-san could not hear. "Kadokura-san, are you actually quite caring? At least from what I heard, you have always been so."

"Always? Did Mei tell you anything?"

"Mm, yes. A few things."

"Now that's her being a blabbermouth again. But well, it's not like I am specially caring or anything. Do you already know that my family is a line of doctors and she was employed at the family mansion?"

"Yes."

"She was my very first fan." He put down the newspaper and gazed into the distance. "My father, you see, frowned on me even when I was just composing music as a pastime—saying that I should use that time for studying. Therefore, the people at the mansion observed me and reported to him when they found me composing. Mei, however, was the only one who didn't. Yes, she even liked my music and asked me to play for her! She would even stand up for me when I had an argument with my father, and when I made the decision to move out, she insisted on following me because she feared that I couldn't do the housework. I wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for her," he said and added jokingly, "Although I never told her that."

"By the way, where's Setsutsu-san?" he asked to change the subject.

"Still asleep, I guess? She's not a morning person."

"I'm awake!"

Speaking of the devil. Towako-san responded while walking down the stairs.

"Did you sleep well?"

"The bed was wonderfully soft. Quite different from how I sleep usually."

"I'm pleased to hear that."

"Yeah, but now my back's aching. I'm missing my own bed! So are you making progress? Seems like you've been up until late at night from the looks of it," she pointed out when she noticed his red eyes. All in all, including the implication that she wanted to go home, her attitude wasn't very favorable.

"I'm afraid this is not something you can get done by simply spending time in it. It's still going to take a while."

"I see. Tell me once you're done. We can't stay too long."

"Do you really have to hurry up so much?"

"Sorry, but my shop's closed right now. I can't leave it like that forever, now can I?"

"If that's your concern, why don't you just leave the mirror here? Rest assured that I will return it when..."

Towako-san's eyes glinted angrily.

"I-I'm joking! Of course I'll give it back to you when you leave!"

"Of course you do. Once again, I have no intention whatsoever to let go of that mirror. But I do intend to go home tomorrow. Get done with your piece until then."

"I understand. I'm downstairs for another round!"

After telling Mei-san to bring his breakfast to his working room, he went downstairs.

"What?" asked Towako-san with sleepy eyes upon noticing my gaze.

"Just thought you're pretty grouchy today."

"Of course I am. I'm not here voluntarily, nor do I want him to use a Relic, but let's not go into that. Anyways, did you make any progress?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Then get your ass in gear. As I said before, I don't plan on staying here much longer."

◆

I closed the door to the basement behind me and made sure I was alone.

"Fuck! That stupid cow!" I blurted out, unable to suppress my honest feelings.

The sheet music on my desk caught my eye. The leaves were covered with various music notes.

In reality, I was already done.

Never before had I ever completed a piece so quickly.

That slump had been blown away. I had not thought that concentration could speed up the making of a piece so heavily. Of course, the final outcome also proved satisfying quality-wise.

I gazed at the toppled Mirror of Serenity.

Out of question. This was all thanks to that mirror.

However, Setsutsu-san planned on retrieving the mirror once I was done.

I knew only too well that it wasn't mine. I had merely borrowed it from them.

Nevertheless, I couldn't imagine letting go of that mirror anymore.

It was their fault for lending it to me.

It was their fault for rubbing my nose in how splendid that mirror was.

There was no way I could let go of it so easily, now that I knew of its splendid nature.

They weren't able to take full advantage of it anyway, and used it for nothing more than erasing noise as they had a few days ago.

It was downright outrageous. The mirror wasn't meant to be used like that.

It was meant to be used by someone more appropriate.

Someone like me.

In my hands, it would enable me to craft more and better pieces of music for everyone.

Wasn't that also for the benefit of the mirror itself? Of course it was. Such a magnificent mirror wouldn't want to gather dust in some storeroom just to be abused to erase noise once in a while.

(But what should I do?)

How could I become the rightful owner of that mirror?

How could I open her eyes?

Just... how?

◆

The second day at Kadokura's was already half over.

Towako-san planned on going home the following day. Not necessarily because of the shop, but mostly because she couldn't stand lending a Relic. That aside, I had to go to school, so I couldn't stay forever, either.

However, a human life was at stake. It was out of question to return without finding a clue.

"Kurusu-kun, can you spare me a moment?" Kadokura-san stopped me when he found me strolling around in the building. "I'd like to ask you a favor."

"Yes?"

"I'd like you to deliver this," he said and handed me a bag in which I found three CDs. "One disk contains my new composition and the other two are reference material I used. I'd like you to deliver them to my client."

"You're done?"

"Mostly. But I want to get some feedback today since I have to return the Mirror of Serenity tomorrow. Should the client dislike the piece, I have to revise it."

I supposed it was bothersome for him if he had to revise his composition without the mirror.

"There's already another job I have to deal with. I'm really sorry for bothering you, but can I ask you? Of course you won't be doing it for free!"

Honestly speaking, the payment was very attractive, but there was no time for something like that. On the other hand, being the one who imposed that time limit, it was hard to turn him down.

"How long does it take to go there and back?"

"I guess about two hours in total."

(Two hours... That's not so long. I guess I can have Saki keep an eye on Mei-san in the meantime.)

"Okay. I'll deliver it for you."

"Thank you. Let me arrange a car for you that will bring you to the station. Mei! Mei, are you here?"

"Um... is Mei-san driving me by any chance?"

"Yeah, but don't worry. Believe it or not, but she's got a license!"

Of course she has. I didn't expect him to order someone without a driver's license to give me a lift. The reason why I had asked was because I was frightened anyway. I had thought he'd call a taxi as he had when we arrived.

I could already see Mei-san apologizing for accidentally getting into an accident in my mind's eye.

The one saving grace was that it was at least no "Vision".

The moment she gripped the handle, Mei-san became a different person—I had hoped, but she stayed unchanged.

This was just too frightening. If she had become over-cautious like a different person, that would still have been better than this!

"I'm really sorry for making you help us out all of a sudden," she apologized to me on the passenger seat.

Originally, this would have been her work, but Kadokura-san had apparently judged it was not all right to leave his guests unattended.

"Well, I don't really mind..."

The woman besides me on the driver's seat showed no sign of being tense. Despite being the passenger, I was way more tense than her.

"Is something wrong?"

"Uh? Ah, um, you changed your clothes, didn't you?" I made up a lie on the fly because I couldn't confess that I was scared shitless of the ride. Not that it was a lie that she had changed her clothes. She had changed from her maid uniform into casual wear that consisted of a yellow dress with a cardigan put on.

"Yes, that outfit isn't exactly suitable for going outside."

Come to think of it, she had been wearing usual clothes as well when we first met in the shop.

At this point, I recalled the scene again "Vision" had shown to me.

My attention had been inclined toward the remarkable place she had collapsed at, but in fact, there was another remarkable thing. Her clothes. The frilly clothes she had worn was a maid uniform.

"Um, do you always change your clothes when you leave the house?"

"Of course! I put that uniform on just at home."

(Just at home? Meaning that she's going to die at home, too?)

"But I can't walk around like that in our city residence, either."

"Eh? What do you mean by that?"

"The residence here is just for work, but he also has an apartment in the city. However, the noise from the other apartments bothers him so much that he'll only work here or at the studio."

"What does that apartment look like?"

"Eh?"

"Um, you see, I was wondering what the living space of a music composer looked like. Maybe like a room in one of those designer's mansions? With eccentric paintings in the room or the doors."

"I wouldn't say it's really special, though... Ah, perhaps did you read that interview that was recently published?" Mei-san nodded in convincedly. "He only did that once long ago!"

"What?"

"Huh? Didn't you refer to the incident when he came up with a good piece, but couldn't find any paper to write on? The story where he ended up drawing lines on the walls and writing the notes on those."

"Ah, y-yes! Exactly! That's what I meant."

(I see. Those lines might have been drawn by Kadokura-san as a substitute for sheets of music.)

"It was terrible to get them off, believe me!" she smiled wryly and suddenly stopped the car. The car came to a halt with a jerk.

"Mh? What's wrong?" I asked.

Looking at me with a troubled face, she answered, "...Excuse me. It looks like the wheels got caught in a ditch."

It was horrible.

Because the wheels got caught up in a ditch, I had no other choice but to push the car from behind, while Mei-san stayed inside and stepped on the gas. Actually, it wasn't that hard to get the wheels out of there, but in return I got a full-fledged mud-shower. My mouth literally felt gritty with sand.

It took us longer than expected to make it to the station, but I could still make it in time for the appointment as my train was just arriving.

For these two hours of work I was going to receive 10,000 yen, which was quite a good deal. All that remained was handing over the CDs and returning to the mansion. Mei-san was going to fetch me at the train station on my way back.

After I had arrived at the client's company and explained my business to the front desk girl, I was led to some kind of meeting room. After a while, someone knocked on the door and entered the room. It was a suited man about thirty years of age. The fact that he was here despite it being Sunday kinda aroused pity in me.

"Sorry for making you wait. Kadokura-san has informed me about the matter at hand."

"Ah, yes. This is what I'm supposed to deliver."

I opened the bag to take out the CDs. However...

"Huh?"

There were only two of them. I placed them on the table and further scrutinized the bag. However, that was all there was.

"Kadokura-san has received these two CDs from us. There was no real need to return them, but I take it he forgot to give you the one that matters? Now if that isn't clumsy of him. Or did that girl that's helping him out make a slip? Oh well, there's still time until the deadline, so just come again another time. I'll get in touch with Kadokura-san and tell him. Now if you'll excuse me, I've still got some work to do." He clapped me on the shoulder and left the room.

(This can't be. I made sure of its content when I got the bag. The CD was there. What's going on...?)

"Ah!" I burst out.

There was a hole.

It was night by the time I came back.

(I didn't notice that hole. Did I drop the CD somewhere? But I didn't hear anything. Because I simply didn't notice?)

The disk wasn't at the lost-property office at the station. I searched the route from the station to the client's company several times, but didn't find anything. I also searched the way from the station to the mansion, but no luck there either. Figures. I had been on a car after all. But I didn't recall that until I was in the mansion again—same goes for the fact that Mei-san had come to fetch me.

Kadokura-san already awaited me and took me to his basement when I entered through the door.

"The client gave me a call and brought me up-to-date. Care to explain?" he muttered quietly, but his anger was conveyed to me.

"You see, there was a hole in the bag..."

"You dropped it."

"...Apparently."

I wanted to deny it, but there was nothing that would have backed me up. It wasn't my fault that there was a hole in the bag. However, having accepted that delivery task, I had been supposed to check.

"How are you going to make up for this?!"

"I'm sorry. I'll deliver the CD again tomorrow. I'll ask Towako-san to lend the mirror for one more day to you."

"You're missing the point!" He shook his head fiercely. "That was the only sample. There's no copy!"

"What...?"

"Who can blame me? There was no time. It was you who hurried me on. You told me I had time until tomorrow, so I fell into line. Who could have expected that you'd lose it?"

"Can't you reproduce it one more time?"

That question rubbed him the wrong way.

"You're quite the genius, aren't you? Make the same thing one more time you say? You may think that's possible since I created it once, but it's not that simple. A composition is defined the moment it is created. It is impossible to perfectly reproduce the same piece of music!"

"...I'm sorry."

"Do you think you can make up for it by saying sorry? Besides, what if someone picks up that CD and sells it as his own creation? I may be called an imitator if I made the same thing one more time. Do you realize the meaning of this? It means that composition counts for nothing!" With his enraged face he edged up to me. "How will you compensate for this?"

"...What do you want?"

"Would a student like you be able to pay up this sum if I claimed damages?"

The number he said was not something someone like me could even dream to pay.

(But if that's the only way...)

"However, we can make a trade if you will."

"Eh?"

"A trade. I'm afraid I'm not short of money, so this wouldn't even solve this matter for me."

"And what would be the object of trade?"

At the time I was so jumbled that I didn't even get so much.

"The mirror!" His anger subsided abruptly. "Give me the 'Mirror of Serenity'. In that case, I'll turn a blind eye to this incident."

"......!"

He tricked me - it happened to me.

The delivery he had asked me for. The hole in the bag. The CD without any copies.

Everything had been arranged by him. Everything was going according to his plan. Everything was going the way for him to obtain the "Mirror of Serenity".

"How does that sound? You have no use for that mirror anyway, right? Isn't that a great deal?"

"...I'll find it."

"What did you say?"

"I'll go and find that CD."

"Boy..."

"As we've told you repeatedly, we don't intend to give it to you. Towako-san said so, and I follow suit."

"Oh my, you're a really bad loser. I don't mind if you go and search for it, but you better find it before the deadline. If you don't..."

"If I don't find it, I'll pay any claims and whatnot! Even if it takes a lifetime!"

"Well said, Tokiya."

We turned around to the voice that came from the door. It was Towako-san, followed by Saki and Mei-san, who was trying to stop them.

"Setsutsu-san, listen, he lost..."

"Stop right there. I'm not here to listen to your cheap cock-and-bull stories." She walked to my side and poked me on the head. "Jeez, don't be such a sap."

"I'm sorry. Trust me, I'll definitely find..."

"It's no use. You're not going to find it. If it's all a trick to obtain the mirror, it's not going to be lying around somewhere."

"Aren't you a bit too overbearing?" he said as he glared at her.

"Now that's what I call a shameless thief. But very well."

Towako-san approached the "Mirror of Serenity" and tossed it carelessly to him. Busy not to let it fall, Kadokura-san hurriedly caught and hugged it to himself.

"Go ahead and treat it like your child."

"Eh?"

"It's yours." She lifted a corner of her mouth sardonically and fixed her gaze on him. "As you said, we can't make good use of this mirror. There is only one reason why I didn't give it to you despite that: because this mirror is going to do harm to the both of you."

"Do harm? To me?"

"'To me'? Is that what I said? But suit yourself. I'm not going repeat myself. If you really overheard it, you shall live to regret. I'm no fortune-teller, really, but this development was so predictable."

Towako-san turned around and left the room. Saki followed after her, while I was unsure whether I should go, too.

The objective that we were here for had not been fulfilled yet.

I looked at Mei-san. Our eyes met and she quickly averted her gaze.

Meaning that she had nothing to talk with us about, us who had insulted Kadokura-san, not knowing the circumstances?

I also followed Towako-san out of the room. But there was one thing I could not bite back.

"Please don't go anywhere near doors with lines on them. Otherwise something bad will happen."

I couldn't see her face as I said so.

◆

They left with a cheap parting shot.

I didn't care. Not at all. As long as the "Mirror of Serenity" remained in my hands.

"...Haha... Ha... Hahahahahaha!"

I burst out in an irrepressible laughter. I had no idea when I had last laughed like that. The joy was even greater than when I became generally accepted and could release my first record.

After I was done laughing, I felt Mei's gaze on me.

"What's wrong? Everything went well, so laugh with me!"

"...Yes."

But she didn't even smile.

"What's with that gloomy face? Didn't you agree with me that the mirror were in better hands if I had it?"

"...Yes."

But still she didn't smile.

"Whatever. Give it to me."

"...Yes."

"Give the CD to me!"

"Ah, yes."

She came to and took a CD out of her pocket. It goes without saying that it was my composition.

I had ordered Mei to snitch the CD under some pretext and make a cut in the bag. Of course there had been no need to deliver the CD from the start. I could just send the file via e-mail.

It was all for the sake of obtaining the "Mirror of Serenity".

I recalled the words of the woman who had told me about the mirror.

While her figure had only left a faint impression on me and I could hardly recall her face, her words had remained vividly in my memory.

But I'm sure you will be able to obtain it if you wish. Relics naturally find their way to an appropriate owner—

Now that I thought about it, that encounter was my first step toward the mirror. No, even that was just yet another inevitability that occurred to lead me to the "Mirror of Serenity".

"Um..." Mei mumbled, still wearing a gloomy expression, and stood before me.

"What is it?"

"Um... it doesn't have to be right away, one day is fine, but after you have gotten out of your slump, could you please return the..."

A dry sound ran through the soundproof room.

Mei fell to the floor, holding the cheek I had slapped.

"Do you care more about them? Do you rather side with guys you've known a few days than me, who you've known like forever?"

"I'm not 'siding' with them. But deceiving them is..."

"Shut up!"

I pulled her up and drove her out of the studio.

"That's enough. I want to be alone. Go upstairs. And don't disturb me! ...No, slip up as much as you want! After all, I've got the 'Mirror of Serenity'."

I closed the door and pulled the cloth off the "Mirror of Serenity" that was now mine.

I was encompassed by a complete silence.

◆

We got on a train and headed home.

One day earlier than planned.

Underway Towako-san had me explain everything: that I was asked for a delivery; that Mei-san brought me to the station and that the CD was gone by the time I was at the client's company; that I searched on my way back but didn't find anything.

"I see."

"I just don't get where I dropped it."

While looking out of the window, Towako-san yawned, "Obviously that maid snitched it."

"No way..."

"You think so? If that was the only time you hadn't the bag with you, then that's the logical conclusion, isn't it?"

Towako-san didn't even consider the possibility that I had dropped it, so she arrived at that conclusion.

"That maid would do everything for that Kadokura-guy, right?" she added.

(I see. So feelings of guilt had caused Mei-san to avert her eyes?)

"Tokiya," Saki suddenly broke her silence.

"Mh?"

"It seems like you told something to her at the end. Did you find out what place your 'Vision' has shown you?"

"No, I just told her not to approach any doors with lines on them."

In the end, we had found no proof of anything. Besides, I assumed that the lines were yet to be drawn on that door. Although there was no proof for that, either.

"Don't worry yourself. Whatever happens is their own fault."

Towako-san had a rather detached view. It was understandable that she wouldn't have pity with them, since they had abused her goodwill of lending the "Mirror of Serenity".

That being said, I could not think like that.

Despite everything, I prayed for her safety.

...Praying was all I had been able to. That fact seized me with remorse.

Why is saving others so difficult?

"Tokiya. The next station is five minutes from now," Saki suddenly blurted out.

"What do you mean?"

"Just saying. I just informed you about the fact that we're arriving at the next station in five minutes. It's up to you to give a meaning to this."

A meaning? Was there a meaning?

Was there a meaning in me getting off the train there?

There wasn't if I just got off. But if I took some action from there, it would get a meaning.

At any rate, there was definitely no meaning in just going home.

"You want to save her, don't you?"

The vision of Mei-san's death crossed my mind.

(Why did we go there? Wasn't it to save her? That mistake has weakened my mind. It's still too early to give up. There's no reason to give up.)

I looked at Towako-san.

"Don't look at me."

She kept gazing out of the window.

"I'm off."

I stood up and headed to the door.

◆

I came to.

The sheet music before me was covered with notes.

The clock revealed to me that it was already morning. At a stretch, without interruption, I had completed an entire composition. That was a first for me.

I looked at the "Mirror of Serenity". It was no doubt there.

It was mine now.

With its help I was going to make a breakthrough.

I raised my head. I was expecting Mei to make some noise, but there was no sound. Usually that sound just annoyed me, but I found myself a little sad missing it.

I was completely calm as though the "Mirror of Serenity" also brought a serene mind.

Suddenly, my stomach picked up the slack and roared up.

(Come to think of it, I haven't eaten anything since yesterday because I couldn't keep still.)

I left the room to get some breakfast.

"Mh?"

Something crossed my vision and made me turn to the door.

"What's that?"

A vast number of lines were drawn all over the door in all directions.

(This wasn't there yesterday. What's going on?

Mei could probably tell me.

I went upstairs to the ground floor, but there was nobody in the living room and the kitchen.

(Odd. Has that girl overslept?)

Suddenly, a memo on the table caught my eye.

"What...?"

I read the memo and was left speechless.

Mei's funeral ended without any incident.

Neither did she rise from the dead, nor did I follow her into death. Really, it ended with no incident. It... ended.

And so the daily life started again.

The world moved on as if nothing had happened, and so did I.

I opened the door to my mansion.

I had been staying in my city apartment for some time since it was a lot more convenient.

It was the first time I was here in a week.

There was no nostalgia.

Not because it had only been a week. Because it didn't feel like the place I had lived in so far.

But however you looked at it, it was the very house I had lived in, and there was only one thing missing.

"So that's why...?"

I realized why it didn't feel like home anymore.

The answer was pretty obvious.

Even if there was something missing—even if I had lost something—it was still nothing but my house.

I headed straight to my underground studio.

There were countless lines on the door.

Drawn by her.

Unable to endure the pain from the heart attack that eventually took her life, she seeked my help. However, no matter how many times she called out, there was no answer. At the time, I had been using the "Mirror of Serenity", so there was no way her voice could reach me.

She had knocked on the door countless times to make her presence felt.

She had scratched at the door countless times to endure the pain.

Her hands were an awful sight. The strong knocks on the door had made them bleed internally, the nails had cracked off from scratching and and her fingertips were covered in blood.

But I hadn't noticed anything.

I hadn't noticed until the very end.

No, I hadn't noticed from the very start.

According to the doctor, there should have been signs at an early stage.

There were several things that came to mind.

Namely her knocking over cups, her dropping spoons and forks, and her sudden stumbles. Neither was it clumsiness nor scatterbrainedness that had caused all of this.

Most likely, a sudden pain in the heart had made her stop moving.

I hadn't noticed. She had deceived me to the very end.

Why didn't she tell me?

Even someone like me would have lent her an ear.

...No, I had listened to her. With my very ears. I had heard the signs she called attention to her pain with. I had been able to hear those signs no one else could hear.

Despite this, I shut out her signs, which could cut through any soundproofing, using the "Mirror of Serenity".

Because this mirror is going to do harm to the both of you—

I recalled Setsutsu-san's words.

I had not understood the meaning of them. I had only thought about myself.

Even though her warning had been addressed to everyone who was near the "Mirror of Serenity"...

I averted my gaze from the door and entered the studio. After I closed the door, the room was filled in silence.

At first, I thought the mirror was still erect, but it was tilted over.

Oh. When there's no one, it gets that silent? I thought vaguely. Perhaps, I had just obtained the silence I had been seeking.

I closed my eyes.

I pictured the world of sounds to myself.

"........."

I closed my eyes once more.

I pictured the world of sounds once more to myself.

"........."

It was useless.

I wanted to escape into that world. But I couldn't.

Why. Why is it so—

"Noisy—!"

I opened my eyes.

There was nothing.

There was no one.

I had figured as much.

Yet it was noisy.

This world was so noisy it was deafening.

This world, though there was no one, was noisier than anything I had ever experienced.

I hadn't dreamed that a silence where there was no one and nothing could be that noisy.

...No, I knew this. Didn't I know this silence already?

And then I recalled.

Finally, now of all times, I recalled.

I recalled my first slump shortly after I had left home.

That time, too, was similar to this.

I was about to go nuts because of the deafening, too silent silence.

The one who saved me from it was Mei, who had followed me.

She had saved me from the silence.

Despite this, I distanced myself from her and tried to create silence.

Nevertheless, she had stayed by my side.

I looked up at the ceiling.

I focused on what was beyond it.

But there was no one there.

Everything there was, was a perfectly void silence.

The girl who had brought me a cozily warm silence was not here anymore.

◆

The thing we saw when we returned to Kadokura-san's mansion was Mei-san collapsed in front of his underground studio and a door with countless scratches on it.

We immediately called an ambulance, but she had already passed away.

We called out to Kadokura-san several times, but he didn't show any reaction.

Most likely, Mei-san had called him desperately from outside as well. She had seeked his help while enduring a pain so excruciating that she scratched the door over and over. But she hadn't reached him.

Surely, he had been using the "Mirror of Serenity".

He returned that mirror to us. He didn't appear before us, but one day, Saki found it standing in front of the shop.

Since that day, I had not heard of any compositions of his.

I don't know what he's doing now.

I guessed the regret kept him from moving on.

But I also had regret.

Over and over, I thought about what-ifs like not going home or returning earlier, or not giving the mirror to him in the first place.

"It was her faith. You couldn't do anything about it. That's fate for you," Towako-san said in answer to her death.

I didn't know whether she said so out of honesty or in order to ease my remorse.

However, maybe it sounds naïve, but if that was fate, then I wanted to change it.

I couldn't achieve anything despite knowing the future.

I couldn't achieve anything despite knowing someone would die.

I couldn't create a meaning back then even though I returned.

But one day, I thought, I will find a way out even when it's fate.

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